Governor Okoth Okoth in court over guns

Migori Governor Okoth Obado during a past court session in Nairobi. He has been taken to Kibera Law Courts amid tight security to answer to gun-related charges. [File, Standard]

Embattled Migori Governor Okoth Obado is in Kibera Law Courts to answer to gun-related charges.

Mr Obado was arrested Tuesday after eight firearms were found at his homes during a raid by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives.
In the dramatic arrest by five plain-clothes officers, Obado was whisked from a taxi in the basement of a city hotel.
Police said he had left an event to meet international development partners attended by Deputy President William Ruto midway.

The officers drove Mr Obado to the offices of the Special Crimes Prevention Unit (SCPU) off Ngong Road and later moved him to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road.
Where it all started
On November 13 EACC detectives descended on the Governor’s office and three homes in an investigation of questionable tenders.
They searced his homes in Nairobi, Migori and rural Rapogi and office at the county headquarters in Migori.
At his home in Migori, police sources, they found three guns under a mattress in his bedroom and five at the governor's Lavington house in Nairobi.

According to the law, the guns are supposed to be kept in a safe.
The pistols had more than 100 bullets.
Mr Obado,who is a licensed firearm holder, has told police some of the guns belonged to him and his aides.
The gun police claim is suspect is reported to have been recovered from a criminal who raided the home.
Detention

Lead prosecutor Ms Catherine Mwaniki has asked the court to have Governor Obado detained for 15 days to allow them to conclusively investigate the case.
Her team has argued Obado did not give properly account for the possession of the firearm which is contrary to the Firearms Acts.
Obado’s lawyer Cliff Ombetta has however dismissed the probe as malicious and unfair.
“This is an expansive homestead which he stays with extended family members. His children, brothers and step mothers have houses there but they come and pick on Obado, and say that the weapon is his,” he told the court.
Ruling

Kibera Chief Magistrate Joyce Gandan has ordered that Governor Okoth Obado to be detained at Gigiri Police Station until tomorrow when she makes the ruling on the prosecutors’ application.
This story is being updated as the events unfold.